


crying isn't like you

by spiritually



Category: Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Genre: Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Luke broke the curse :), M/M, Shadowman is fucking dead, Temporary Amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 04:34:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30134064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritually/pseuds/spiritually
Summary: how I picture the end of episode six going, even though I know it's not gonna happen
Relationships: Luke McCoy/Connor Stevens
Kudos: 21





	crying isn't like you

Luke was running as fast as he could, pumping his tired legs past exertion, past adrenaline; he was running on pure desperation and hope.

Exhausted wasn't strong enough a word to describe how he felt. He hadn't slept all night, trying to find a way to break the curse, and he thought he finally did it, but he wouldn't know for sure till he got to the lighthouse. But now wasn't the time for rest, he needed to see that his plan worked, that his friends were okay, that Connor was okay.

He kept tripping over his feet, cutting his arms on stray branches in the forest, but the feeling barely registered. The lighthouse was in view, and his vision was blurring. He was definitely slowing down, but his brain didn't register why until he ran straight into a giant pine.

If he wasn't dizzy enough before, he definitely was now. Still, he stumbled over his feet, determined to find his friends, alive, safe and sound. They had to be safe. 

The next minutes were torture, his body fighting against him. By the time he got to the lighthouse, his body was about to give out. 

He knocked tentatively, and was immediately met with banging and screaming coming from below him. He wrapped his hand around the skeleton key in his closet and shimmied it open before running down the stairs as fast as he could. Something was wrong with him, he could tell by the taste of blood in his mouth and the stream of red he keeps seeing when he wipes his forehead, but it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except-

Connor.

There were dozens of people in the room, children of all ages, but all he could see was Connor. 

His name was being called, arms were wrapping around him, the world was spinning, and all he could see was Connor.

And then he passed out. 

-

"You idiot, are you okay?" Gabby's voice was the first thing he heard when he woke up.

A groan escaped his mouth and he opened his eyes, only to shut them as soon as the fluorescent lights touched them. "Why is it so bright?"

"You're in the hospital," Jai said, throwing himself onto Luke and wrapping him in a hug. "You got a concussion and banged yourself up pretty bad. You lost quite a bit of blood, that's why you passed out."

And suddenly, Luke's memories of the past few days caught up to him, and he bolted up, ignoring the lights. "Connor? Connor! Is Connor okay? Is the curse broken?"

The heart monitor started beeping faster, and a nurse came rushing in. She eased him back into bed, and Luke looked to his left, where his dad was standing near his head, and Hanna was near the foot. 

"I'm so sorry, Luke. I had no idea all of this is going on. Even if I did... I never would have believed you. I'm sorry." His dad was squeezing his hand, looking at him with pleading eyes.

Luke, however, was more confused than anything. "You told him? What... what happened after I passed out?"

Hannah nodded. "Yeah, not a whole lot of people know, um. We don't know how we're going to explain it, yet, how so many of the missing kids over the years are suddenly back, the same age they were when they disappeared. But we told your dad because... well we had to call 911."

"Okay," Luke said. That cleared one thing up, but not the million others plaguing his mind. One thing, or one person, was at the forefront, someone that still hadn't been accounted for. "Is Connor okay? Can I see him?"

Everyone in the room looked at each other, a look that Luke was terrified to understand the meaning of. Eventually, Hannah turned to him. "Maybe we could talk alone for a bit?" The others in the room immediately nodded and flooded out, a sigh of relief escaping from all of them.

This was bad.

"What happened to him," Luke demanded. Hanna was biting her lip, like she was holding back something, but Luke didn't have time to beat around the bush. "Is he alive? I saw him! Did he escape? Is the shadowman gone?"

"Yes, yes, and yes," Hanna said, interrupting him before he could descend into a spiral of fear. "He's... fine. He's okay. He's just having trouble remembering anything. The other kids' memories went much slower. We think it had something to do with the shadowman... using him. He hasn't really said anything much, just answered yes or no questions. He doesn't... he basically remembers his name, his age, and where he's from..."

"But he doesn't remember us? Me?" Hanna shook her head, and Luke bit his cheek, trying to hold in the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "This is all my fault, this is all my fault Hanna if I had just _gone_ with him, or if I hadn't used that spell-"

"You _saved_ us Luke," Hanna said, grabbing his hand. She looked down and blushed before clearing her throat. "I.. no. Nevermind, this isn't a good time."

"For what?"

Hanna rolled her eyes. "It's nothing, it's stupid. Seriously, this isn't a good time to talk about it."

Luke's mind was spinning again. "Is it something about Connor? Is there something you aren't telling me about him?"

"No!" she said. She put her head in her hands, taking it away from Luke's. "Kind of, it's more like... something you're not telling me."

"I don't follow." Honestly, his head was aching and it felt like mush, every coherent thought and sentence felt like running a mile. He couldn't focus on that, though, he needed to find out what Hanna was trying to say.

"Do you want to see him? Connor? You guys haven't seen each other since you passed out, and that was yesterday. His dad is asleep in the waiting room right now, so you'd have some privacy." She looked around frantically, turning anywhere but to meet his eyes. 

He knew she was trying to change the subject, but he didn't have the energy to care. "Yeah, yeah I do."

She nodded, calling for a nurse to help him out of bed and into a wheelchair. Hanna took over the chair, guiding him towards what he assumed was Connor's room, the others trailing behind slowly, giving them space. Luke didn't know why, but he had a few moments before he was reunited with Connor. He needed to figure out what was going on with her. "Are you gonna come in and talk to him, too?"

"Nope," she said. He turned around and scrunched his eyebrows together. They stopped in front of a door, and Luke went to open it before Hanna shut it again. "We've all tried our hand, it's just upset him more."

"Okay..." Luke said. He gestured towards the door, but Hanna turned the chair around and crouched down. 

She gave him a kiss on the cheek and a small, ingenuine smile. "It's okay, Luke."

"I don't understand," Luke said, after a moment waiting for her to elaborate. And that was the truth, he didn't understand why she kissed his cheek now, of all times, why her 'it's okay' sounded like a goodbye, why she was acting so strange.

She laughed, and a tear fell down her cheek. "You don't have to tell me, I knew the second that you walked in after saving us. Just... bring him back to us, please."

The clouds in his mind cleared, and suddenly Luke understood. He had been shutting away his bubbling feelings for Connor, shoving them down further. He let everyone think he had a crush on Hanna. Because she liked him. Because it was easy. Because he was afraid. But now he was going in to see him, and he was everyone's last hope for jolting his memory.

But instead of saying anything, he let Hanna open the door and wheel him into the room. She put him in a position close to his bed, where Connor was sitting.

"Another one?" Connor said. His voice was scratchy, and his eyes sunken in, but Luke could still tell it was him. "I told the doctor I just wanna be left alone."

"What, you don't wanna give me a chance?" Luke said, trying to be lighthearted. He looked into Connor's eyes, and was met with nothing but indifference. He didn't even recognize him. "Scoot over."

Luke tried to stand, and immediately fell back into his chair. He tried again, grabbing onto the bed, and slipped onto the floor. "You're really clumsy."

"I'm concussed," Luke said. "Could I have a little help?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll help you invade my personal space. No problem." That stoic humor, so dry and sarcastic, reminded Luke so much of his Connor, the one from before the curse, that he smiled. A hint of something, Luke didn't know what, changed in Connor's expression. "Fine."

Connor grabbed Luke's hands and pulled him up, wrapping an arm around him and helping him into the bed before going around and sitting on his side. "So, what are you gonna do to try and jog my memory? Because nothing has worked so far, all I know is-"

"You like baseball," Luke started. Words started spilling out of him before he could even speak or read Connor's expression "You're the leader of the midnight society. You, me, Jai, Hanna, and Gabby started a club where we go to an old shop by the pier at midnight and tell scary stories. Hanna's brother joined it, too, during all this mess. You're reckless, and would do anything for a good story. You aren't that great at math but you're incredible at english, especially during free writing time. You and I do everything together. I even have you as my lockscreen. Your backpack is red, and mine is blue because we wanted contrasting colors. You're creative, and you're smart, and you're my best friend."

He was out of breath by the end of it, and Connor's face was a mere six inches from his. They were sitting side by side, their fingers brushing. Connor's eyes welled with tears. "I believe you," he muttered, "I believe you but I just can't remember."

Luke grabbed Connor's hand, ignoring his flinch, and put his other hand on Connor's shoulder. He looked into his eyes, looking for any hint of recognition, but there was none. "Please, come back to me Connor. Please, I love you."

Those words seemed to spark something in him, and it's like he jerked awake, his eyes brightening and color coming back into his face. The tears in his eyes started falling, and he turned around frantically before focusing back on Luke. "Luke? Luke? Is it really you? I'm really me, this is all real, right?"

Luke tackled Conner in a hug, holding on until his own tears covered his face. "Yes, it's me. I'm so sorry, Connor. This is all my fault-"

"What?" he said, holding Luke at arms length before pulling him close again, nestling into the crook of his neck. "Connor. Please don't think like that, you saved us. Don't you dare blame you-"

"I lost everyone," Luke said. He didn't want to make it about him, but all the guilt from the last few days came back full force. "I messed everything up, made things worse. I'm the reason we all got cursed. I should've stopped you from going into the forest-"

"Stop, stop." Connor held onto the back of his head. "Stop it. We're just kids, Luke. This isn't anyone's fault, and it definitely isn't yours. Look at me." He cupped Luke's face, forcing him to make eye contact. "You saved us, okay? You're the reason I'm alive. And I love you, too, idiot. So stop blaming yourself."

The swarm of negative thoughts in his mind faltered. "You do?"

"Yes. I have for a while now, since middle school. I... I was so scared I wouldn't get the chance to tell you, when I felt my memories slipping away. You were the last one to go, y'know. You held on the longest." They were closer now, their foreheads touching, and Luke could see a blush creep up Connor's cheeks. "That's not important, though."

"It is to me," Luke said, moving forward and kissing Connor with all the love he could in just five seconds. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"We're okay," Connor whispered.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, holding onto each other like they were afraid they would slip into the darkness. Eventually, a knock at the door interrupted them and everyone came in, tackling them both in hugs. 

"We probably shouldn't have a midnight society meeting this week, should we?" Jai asked after hugging Connor and Luke for the millionth time. Everyone nodded in agreement and they spent hours in the room playing games, coming up with plans for the other kids, and crying about how much they loved each other. Luke allowed himself to relax for the first time in days.

He got Connor back, but they all still had a lot of explaining to do. 

**Author's Note:**

> lukeconnor breakdown in preparation for the finale tomorrow :)


End file.
